1. Field of the Invention
The substantial cost of lead and the problems of disposal of waste lead makes recovery of lead from lead batteries of significant economic importance. Prior art processes have employed introducing complete batteries into a furnace and removing the molten lead, while employing an after-burner to burn off volatile organic products from containers and separators. This process has significant deficiencies in the handling of the hydrogen-chloride which is produced from PVC separators, the thermal control and the cost of fuel. It is therefore desirable to provide a process, which would avoid the deficiencies of the prior art processes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,708,270 describes a process for pyrolyzing carbonaceous materials by contacting waste materials with a molten alkali metal salt. U.S. Pat. No. 3,689,253 discloses separation of batteries into component parts providing a sludge containing lead sulfate, which is metathesized to lead carbonate, which is then smelted to lead. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,826,490 and 2,966,350 disclose the use of organic materials associated with storage batteries to provide heat to melt the lead. U.S. Pat. No. 3,395,010 employs paper as a reductant to reduce lead compounds to lead.